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George, the last known Achatinella apexfulva snail in Hawaii, has died at the age of 14.

On Thursday, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announced George’s passing in a press release. The snail, whose name came from the Pinta Island Galapagos tortoise, “Lonesome George,” passed away of old age on New Year’s Day. According to the DLNR, George’s passing is a major loss to local residents, who’ve seen him at local school exhibits and read about him in science articles.

According to DLNR, the Achatinella apexfulva is one of more than 750 land snail species from the Hawaiian Islands. In 1787, Captain George Dixon, who was docked on O’ahu, mentioned the Achatinella apexfulva species in his travels. These snails, which were popular in the Ko’olau Mountains and on O’ahu, were used for lei making.

Twenty-one years ago, the last ten known Achatinella apexfulva snails were brought to a University of Hawaii lab. Even though some additional offspring were produced, all of them died except for George. In 2017, a two-millimeter snippet of George’s foot was collected for research purposes, and his body tissue was freezed in a container at San Diego’s Frozen Zoo.

George’s death isn’t an isolated environmental incident. The DLNR said Hawaiian land snails are currently threatened by climate change and invasive species. In order to protect Hawaiian land snails, the state created the Snail Extinction Prevention Program (SEP). With the program, Hawaii aims to provide predator abatement and habitat protection for state snail species that face extinction.